Sunday, September 29, 2013

I have to say I'm thrilled about Theros (the new Magic the Gathering set), both as a player, and an artist. Greco-Roman is a theme I always enjoy... the mythology is so rich that it's an endless source of inspiration for me and many artists long since passed. And even just the real-world aesthetic of their armor and architecture has always been appealing in it's iconicism. I think Wizards did a great job of taking those aspects and turning into something clearly 'Magic,' while maintaining, (and even improving) the culture it's based on.

Beyond that, the set looks really fun to play. The new abilities all look to have great synergy and everything has a sense of a before-and-after version of itself. I can't wait to get into a draft.

HORIZON CHIMERA

I had the pleasure of working on a LOT of animals in this set. I imagine most of you see me as an environment guy (and that's true), but truth be told I really love designing animals too.

If you don't recognize it as a typical 'Chimera,' well, it's not :) I was asked to combine a stag and heron, which right away spoke to me as something elegant, graceful, and cautious. The stag part became more oryx/gazelle and the heron a bit more swan, but in the end I was happy with the design. For the background I wanted to go with a much more traditional look in terms of design and colors, something closer to Bouguereau's Nymphs and Satyr.

But the best part of this card, is that it's awesome in terms of the game:

Blue/Green is one of my favorite color combos anyway, but the skill set here is just a lot of fun. Particularly Flash. And its still an uncommon with all those great abilities! I expect to see these getting a lot of play.